About Us
When I was 12-years old, I dreamed of telling stories and making people laugh for a living. I went to film school, hoping that would lead to my dream. But the years went by — businesses were started, a legal career took over, and telling stories became an afterthought.
But when my wife and I had children, I learned that one of the great joys in life is making children laugh. These stories didn’t start with big dreams — they started with the nighttime laughs and smiles of kids… and the joy that comes from sharing laughter with people you love.
Books Written as a Family
One of the main motivations for John writing children’s books has nothing to do with the actual books. For years I dreamed of being able to work with my children in a way that would make them proud.
When I was talking with my wife about carving out time to write children’s books, one of the highlights for me was involving our four kids in the process. My wife and I decided that we would involve the kids in the writing, illustrating, publishing, and marketing of the books.
Our goal was to show our children how to turn an idea into reality. I believe that parents shouldn’t ask their kids to be creative and then fail to demonstrate what that means.
Here’s how my wife and I incorporated our kids into the creation of our books.
- I told each story to the kids over 100 times before writing it down.
- I read each draft of the books to the kids to get their feedback. They noticed every change, even single words.
- The kids helped pick our editor (with my supervision, of course).
- The kids helped pick an illustrator (along with my wife’s approval — she’s picky!).
- Through every step, we tried to teach our kids about starting a business, profits, expenses, and marketing.
- I asked my kids to pick three local charities together and donate a percentage of the royalties for the purpose of helping similarly-aged kids (this was the best part for me personally).
We hope you enjoy the books as much as we enjoyed creating them.
